The Minnesota Vikings have started three different quarterbacks this season
in an attempt to shake out of their 1-6 funk.

But it doesn’t matter who’s taking the snaps — whether it’s Christian Ponder,
Josh Freeman or Matt Cassel. The only Viking with the ball in his hands who
matters is Adrian Peterson.

The former Oklahoma All-American is the league’s best running back and its
reigning MVP. The Vikings fed him an average of 22 handoffs per game last season
and Peterson converted them into the seventh 2,000-yard season in NFL history.
His legs carried the Vikings to 10 wins and a wild-card playoff berth.

Peterson ranks fourth in the NFL in rushing this season with 571 yards and
six touchdowns. But since their bye on the fifth weekend of the season, the
Vikings have de-emphasized the NFL rushing champion.

Peterson hasn’t carried the ball more than 13 times in any of the last three
games, all losses. He hasn’t gained 100 yards in any of those games and has
scored only one touchdown in that stretch.

The Vikings need to get Peterson rolling to become competitive again, and
this weekend would be the ideal time to start. Peterson returns home to Texas to
face the NFL’s worst defense.

The Cowboys have not allowed a 100-yard rusher this season, but offenses have
had success on the ground. Denver’s Knowshon Moreno gained 93 yards, Detroit’s
Reggie Bush 92 yards, Washington’s Alfred Morris 81 yards and all scored a
touchdown against the Cowboys.

The Vikings have their own defensive issues, ranking 30th in the league. You
protect a porous defense by running the ball, winding the clock and thus
limiting the exposure of that unit. No team is better equipped to execute that
philosophy than Minnesota — because no other team has Peterson.

But with Peterson averaging only 18 rushes per game this season, the Vikings
are holding onto the ball a league-worst 24 minutes, 52 seconds per game. For
the Vikings to have a chance against the Cowboys, Peterson will need 25 to 28
carries to allow Minnesota to control the clock. And he’s certainly capable.

Peterson has the power to run inside and speed to run outside. He has
touchdown gallops of 78 yards against Detroit and 60 yards against Pittsburgh
this season, plus 100-yard rushing games against the Steelers and Bears.

Peterson will be quite the test for middle linebacker Sean Lee, the best
defender on the Cowboys. He ranks third in the NFL with 81 tackles and was the
NFC’s defensive player of the week the last time the Cowboys won. He collected
11 tackles and an interception Oct. 20 against the Eagles.

Stop Peterson and you stop the Vikings.

Listen
to Rick Gosselin at 10:50 a.m. Tuesdays on The Ticket (KTCK-AM 1310) with Norm
Hitzges.

To post a comment, log into your chosen social network and then add your comment below. Your comments are subject to our Terms of Service and the privacy policy and terms of service of your social network. If you do not want to comment with a social network, please consider writing a letter to the editor.

About Rick Gosselin

MOST UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE ON THE JOB:
Sitting at the hotel bar with Jerry Jones that night in Orlando, Fla., in March 1994 when he decided he'd had enough of Jimmy Johnson as coach of the Cowboys.

SOMETHING PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME:I played hockey for a media all-star team in Detroit and once scored a goal against the Detroit Red Wings Old-Timers in a charity game at Olympia. As a high school player, I once scored a hat trick in a game at the Olympia. Love those "Original Six" buildings.

IF I HAD TWO SPARE HOURS, I WOULD:Take a golf lesson and learn how to hit a driver.

MOST MEMORABLE SPORTING EVENT I'VE COVERED:Impossible to pick just one, so I'll give you five, in no particular order:
- 1, My first Super Bowl - X between the Cowboys and Steelers.
- 2, 1983 NCAA basketball championship game between North Carolina State and Houston.
- 3, 1984 Orange Bowl between Miami and Nebraska.
- 4, 1971 baseball All-Star Game in Detroit, where all the future Hall of Famers homered and Reggie Jackson banged one off the light tower.
- 5, Speedskater Bonnie Blair's world-record sprints at 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.
- Honorable mention: Troy Aikman's first college start as a freshman at Oklahoma against Kansas. (He lost.)

Hometown: Detroit

Education: Graduated from Michigan State in 1972, then spent two years working news for United Press International in Detroit, two years working for UPI sports in New York, nine years working as UPI's Midlands sports editor in Kansas City, four years as Chiefs/NFL beat reporter for the Kansas City Star, two years as Cowboys writer for The Dallas Morning News and 12 years as the NFL writer for The News.